


He's Precious to Me

by ImaKaraTabiHe



Series: What is "Normal"? [6]
Category: Arrow (TV 2012), The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Anger, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff and Angst, Friendship, Hurt/Comfort, Love, M/M, Mental Health Issues, OCD, OCD - Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, Protectiveness, True Love, protective!Len
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-09
Updated: 2018-08-15
Packaged: 2019-06-07 14:02:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,534
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15220745
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ImaKaraTabiHe/pseuds/ImaKaraTabiHe
Summary: After a long night, Len does his best to comfort Barry and show him just how much he means to him.  It's a day full of warmth between them.But despite how much he doesn't want to leave Barry, Len knows that someone needs punishment...





	1. Chapter 1

Waking up beside Barry, Len couldn't help but reach out and brush the soft hair from his forehead. God, he was beautiful, and fuck, if Len didn't feel like he didn't deserve him sometimes. It was still a wonder to him as to how he'd managed to be allowed into Barry's heart. A criminal like him shouldn't have been allowed to touch one so pure, but Barry had. Him being too kind-hearted and loving to think that Len might not turn out to be as good as he thinks.

He was lucky.

Len leaned forehead and brushed his lips against Barry's, smiling when Barry sniffed and pressed into him. He let his fingers run along Barry's back as the morning light spilled into the room through cracks in the curtains.

After such a long night, he wasn't surprised that Barry hadn't woken up. Honestly, he didn't expect Barry to wake up anytime soon.

A shrill beeping made Len wince. 'So long as that damn alarm shuts up…' With a sigh, Len carefully unwrapped himself from Barry and got up to turn Barry's alarm off. He also took time to turn off the other alarms that Barry had set to ensure he got up for work and out the door on time. There were too many for Len's taste, but after Barry had slept through two and was late to work, Len understood.

Today, however, Barry didn't have work, and the last thing Len wanted to do was make him wake up when he clearly needed more rest. Panic attacks triggered by his OCD tended to drain him, and last night's was a doozy. Len didn't want Barry to have to do anything he didn't need to today.

The almost silent sound of Barry's stomach rumbling caught Len's attention. He knew Barry would be waking up to eat whenever his stomach interrupted his sleep, so he padded out into the living room, slippers snug on his feet.

He opened up a cookbook and began to start working on a very hearty meal for his sleeping Speedster. Len made everything he had the ingredients for; bacon, eggs, quiche, sweet rolls, grits, oatmeal, fresh orange juice, diced up fruit parfaits, French toast… Needless to say he got lost in his work, at least, until the shuffling of feet alerted him to company.

“Nn...” Len turned around and watched Barry join him in the kitchen, rubbing sleep from his eyes with his hair messy. “Len?” Barry looked around, eyes widening in wonder. “W-what's all this for?”

Len's lips curled, amused. “Breakfast, Scarlet. What else?”

Barry's eyes caught on the French toast and it seemed like he struggled to look back at Len. “You.. made this all for me?”

“Well, I certainly can't eat all of this alone,” Len snorts, watching as a smile graces Barry's lips.

“Thank you,” Barry says, kissing Len's cheek lightly.

Len doesn't blush. Maybe just the tips of his ears, but other than that he's cool. (He might be lying, but he's cool.) “Go settle down on the couch and find something for us to watch. Today we're going to spoil ourselves and be couch potatoes.”

Barry chuckles. “Let me just...” And before Len knows it all of the food is spread out on a blanket in the living room floor and the couch has pillows along the bottom that are perfect for leaning against.

“Huh,” Len thinks, still surprised at Barry's speed. “That works too.”

They spend the day eating, exchanging gentle touches, and marathoning TV shows. It's nice. Their phones are turned off, so there's no interruptions, save for having to use the bathroom every now and then, but it's a pleasant change from their usual lives of action.

The entire day, Len uses extra caution not to set off Barry's OCD. He wants Barry to understand that his OCD is a part of him that Len understands, accepts. It doesn't make him a freak. He's still the same Barry he's always been, the same Barry that everyone's come to love and dote on (even some of his Rogues).

It's getting dark outside when Len's phone pings. He's been waiting for this, waiting for the news that two certain someones had arrived in the city.

“Don't hurt them, okay, Len?”

Len's eyes drift to Barry, who's halfway asleep on the couch. He should've been more energetic considering how he'd slept in, but he's not feeling well, Len understands. Doesn't make it any easier to see his normally bright-eyed Speedster exhausted from his emotional state.

“What?”

“I know.. you're going to see them sometime.. but don't hurt them? They- They didn't do anything wrong,” Barry tries, rubbing his eyes as if that would get rid of the sleepiness hanging over his head.

Frowning, Len leans forward, taking Barry's face in his hands. “I can't promise that,” Len tells him seriously. “No,” he interrupts Barry's attempt to speak, “I can't and won't promise you that, Scarlet. You know why? Because I'm a criminal. I steal things for a living. Things that become precious to me, and I'm fiercely protective over things that are precious to me, and you, Scarlet? You're the most valuable gem I've ever stolen, and nobody – _nobody touches what's precious to me.”_

He searches Barry's eyes for any signs of discomfort, rejection, but all he sees there is acceptance. Len's glad Barry doesn't hate him for it, because he's always been worried that being a thief would cause them to break up. Barry's never held it against him; on the contrary, he took all of Len and loved every single bit of him for him.

“I know, Len...” Barry whispers. “I'm not going to stop loving you because you want to protect me. Just like you treasure me, I treasure you.” He's silent before he continues on. “Don't hurt them too bad, please?”

'Gentle Scarlet,' Len can't help but think. 'An angel too good for this world.  _My_ angel.' He kisses Barry's forehead, letting his lips brush up against his lover's heated skin. “I'll try, but...”

“'No promises',” Barry breathed out, eyes fluttering closed. “I know. I love you, Len.”

“I love you too, Barry,” Len replies, helping Barry get comfortable on the couch and tucking him in as the faint sound of the TV plays in the background. “I'll be back soon, and I'll bring back dinner.”

“Pizza?” Barry questions with a yawn.

Len smiles down at him. “Your favorite kind.”

“Be careful, Len.”

“Always, Scarlet. Now go to sleep.”

It doesn't take long for Barry to fall asleep, breath evening out as the light from the TV throws shadows over his beautiful face. Len can't resist leaning down and brushing his lips against Barry's soft cheek. Oh yeah, he knows he's so far gone on Barry.

Len tucks a blanket around Barry, careful and delicately. “I'll be back soon,” he whispers, even though he knows Barry is already asleep.

And through the sound of dogs barking into the darkening sky, Len slips out of their house and onto his bike. Memories of Barry's voice singing fill his head, and he can't help but smile as he turns towards STAR Labs, a cold, heavy weight on his hip that he knows he'll be holding once more soon.

Parking in a blind spot, Len looks up at the “abandoned” facility, a dangerous smirk making his lips curl as righteous anger wells up. Throwing his leg over the bike and walking towards a side door, he can't help but mumble to the air, “Things are about to get… _frosty.”_


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Len goes overboard, but he's always been the kind of person to do things proper the first time.

Len can't help but be reminded of how much he hates this place. He knows a part of Barry still feels a little of the hope that STAR Labs once inspired – hope for the future, a leap for technology and science… Maybe Len's not much of a science person, or at least, not tech science, but he doesn't find this place as a place of advancement at all.

His footsteps echo in the pristine, white hallways. They're not loud enough to alert anyone, but for someone like Len, they sound like heartbeats.

No, Len doesn't like this place. While it once held his fascination, if only for the possible monetary gains, when it blew? That was it.

There was no money to be made from it anymore. No one wanted to have _anything_ to do with STAR Labs. It became like a smear of oil, tainting the citizens of Central City's minds. Anything that came from it was dangerous – still is dangerous, now that he thinks about it.

Horrifying events, like the explosion of STAR Labs, are not easily forgotten, and never forgiven.

Neither are hurtful words…

He's seen Barry hurt. Many, many times before. Some of them were due to him, and he regrets every bit of it. Watching Barry heal from a injury has never been easy, and Len's always helpless to stop his pain. This time, though, Len can. He promises to make Barry's hurt go away. He promises to make sure that these… _people_ will never hurt him again.

“--you scared him!?”

“Oh, he did much more than that...” a sharp voice follows that has Len pulling a face. He knows that voice. Doesn't mean he likes who it belongs to though.

“I- I didn't! I was just _joking_ for Pete's sake!”

'Ramon,' Len tenses. And that shit is why Len chooses now to make his entrance into the Cortex. “You were _'just joking'?_ How laughable,” he snarls at the group. Frost seems livid with her arms crossed and heat in her cheeks.

Queen doesn't look like much, but he never does. Always shuttering his emotions, but Len can see the tension, the slitted eyes. Even without saying it, Len can tell the man is _pissed._ ..He might have to rethink his opinions of the man. Just a little. The guy's still an asshole.

Ramon however… The man himself looks like Len's already hit him with the cold gun – frozen, shocked… And wondering how the hell he's going to get out of this.

He's not. Len's going to make sure to ingrain every single piece of Barry's pain in him.

Queen's eyes narrow a bit more as they turn towards him. Defensive. Every bit the vigilante Len knows he is, even though Barry's never told him who it is playing Robin Hood in Starling. “Snart,” the archer growls, cautious.

He can't help it. Never has been able to. “Arrow,” Len smoothly replies in greeting, unable to stop the upwards twitch of his lips.

And _oh how satisfying that is._ To see the look of shock flash across such a controlled person's face. The little things in life.

“How do you know that?” Queen gruffly questions, hands twitching towards his pockets.

Len doesn't have to guess that the man has hidden weapons on him, not when he's carrying too. He honestly would like to see Queen dare to try. Barry would understand. “That's my little secret,” Len retorts, plastering a cold smile on his face and quickly turns his frosty gaze on the reason he's here. “I'm not here for something so insignificant as that though. I'm here for _you,_ Ramon.”

The engineer quivers in place, face pale and eyes wide with fear. “I- I- I-...” He's too tongue-tied to get anything out besides a stutter.

“Well?” Len demands, impatiently.

“I didn't do anything wrong!” Ramon cries out, finally finding his tongue.

Before anyone can blink, Len's pulled out his gun and has Ramon held at gun point. “Bull-fucking-shit,” Len hisses. “You _knew_ how much pain it would cause Barry.”

Ramon flinches back, despite being obviously terrified of becoming Len's latest ice sculpture. “It's not that special! It's just another weird Barry thing!”

Snow inhales sharply, eyes ablaze at his words. “Cisco!” she gasps in disbelief.

Someone growls, and it's actually not Len for a change. Which begs the question… who? He marks people off one by one, until he reaches Queen… Queen, who looks unusually angry. Len's brows furrow in confusion. 'What the fuck…?'

“Cisco,” Queen says, coldly. “I thought you were better than this. Barry's OCD...” he looks towards Len for confirmation about Barry's mental illness, and Len can only tip his head forward, “isn't something 'weird'. It doesn't make him weird, and it doesn't make him any less of himself.”

“If anything,” Queen continues, “he's even more brave than we've all been led to believe, minus the odd..thief.”

Len's been called _many_ things, so 'odd' is actually more of a compliment than anything. He can feel his left brow, quirked in a mix of emotions at hearing Queen speak so protective. He's usually more threatening than anything else, yet here he is.

“You would've known if you'd been here to help him,” Len can't stop the words from slipping out of his mouth. He'd like to say he regrets them, but he doesn't. The images of the Flash laying in a twisted heap from one of his battles makes Len's stomach churn with nausea. Being out of the city for that will haunt him forever.

Queen gives a silent, irritated, yet apologetic nod of the head to Len, before he turns back to Ramon. “You need to get your head on straight before..Cold here decides to do it for you, and I'm already inclined to help him do it.”

“So am I,” Snow pipes up with a glare at Ramon, to which he shrinks at.

And, _come on._ Len still has to threaten the little shit. Everybody, stop interrupting him. His finger lightly taps the gun, sending the whirling sound of technology threatening to hiss to life echoing throughout the Cortex.

“If you're done, Queen,” Len grinds out, “I think its time for the bad guy to take over.” It's about time. He's been stewing for way too long.

Len lets himself grin, toothily, coldly...deadly. “Now then, Ramon… I'm going to talk and you're going to listen, and I'd listen very, _very_ carefully, if I were you. Understood?”

Ramon nods shakily, looking like he's been drained of blood.

“You _hurt_ Barry. You hurt the person that I love more than any damn treasure in the entire universe. I'm not a good guy. You can't imagine the amount of times my hands have been covered in someone else's blood. Unlike your vigilante friend, the people I've killed… are people that have found themselves on my bad side. And you, Cisco Ramon, are most certainly on my bad side right now.” Len takes a breath, trying to remain calm, to keep his finger still on the trigger.

“I will never forget the way Barry fell apart because of you. He may forgive you one day, but I will never, _ever_ forget. You fucked up, and you're going to suffer because of it. Every single bit of pain you've put him through, _are_ putting him through, I will repay ten-fold. Barry isn't a freak. His OCD doesn't make him weird. It makes him fucking strong to fight what he does. He doesn't have to do what he does, but he does it anyways.”

Len narrows his eyes at Ramon. “Barry Allen is a hero, and he's more important than you will ever be. He's the kindest, strongest person in the world, and you will never belittle him again. Do you understand me?”

Ramon squeaks, nodding jerkily.

“I said… _Do you understand me?”_

“I… I u-under-understand!” Ramon chokes out.

“Good,” Len nods with frosty approval. “You will not try to contact Barry until you've educated yourself. You will stay away from him until he forgives you. You will never, ever hurt him again, because if you do? I promise you, you'll beg me to kill you before I'm done with you.”

Ramon swallows, shaking so badly that he might fall apart.

“If you don't think you can treat Barry like the person he is, then I suggest you take your fucking judgmental ass and leave Central City, because we don't need you here. I'm sure everyone struggling through mental illness will be better off with one more hateful bigot gone,” Len finishes, voice fading into the silence.

The looks Queen and Snow give make him aware that they think he's overdid it, but why should he give a shit what they think? The only person who matters to him right now is at home, curled up with their favorite blanket… He may have let his anger take over, but he doesn't regret it. This way, Ramon knows how serious he is.

“Think hard, Ramon… Before it costs you everything.” Queen makes a movement, but even the trained vigilante can't stop Len's finger from pressing the trigger, causing a frozen layer of ice to spread over Ramon's hand, creeping up his arm.

The screaming doesn't make him blink. It won't kill him, won't even make him lose his limb, but it does hurt like a bitch. Some extra tweaks made sure of that.

Ramon falls down, tears streaming down his cheeks as he sobs. “Was that really necessary?” Snow demands, rushing over to him.

Len shrugs. “Maybe, maybe not. Then again, I'm a criminal. I don't do justice. I take revenge.” His eyes narrow. “And if you dare say, it's over 'something small', I'll ice you too. Any pain is too much pain when it comes to my Scarlet.”

“Easy, Snart,” Queen tells him, face apathetic.

Quirking an eyebrow, Len just gives him a look. Daring. No matter if it's a meta or Barry's family, he'll always be there for him – to protect him and support him. OCD may be a 'little thing' to some, but when it causes Barry pain – it's no longer the 'little thing' people laugh it off as.

“Just..” Snow sighs, holding onto Ramon's shoulders as she tries to soothe his pain. “Go home, Snart… Take care of Barry.” Her face softens as their eyes meet. “Please.” Snow turns her gaze back to Ramon, eyes hardening. “I'll take care of Cisco,” she promises.

After a heartbeat, he turns around and walks away, a whimper echoing through the halls. “Oh, hush. It wasn't set to permanently harm you,” Snow's voice fades as Len walks further away.

Despite what he's done, despite Barry being at home where he's safe, Len has this surging desire to be there with him. He needs to see him. To hold him. Those feelings are what lead him to fly through the streets on his bike, dodging traffic as he goes.

“You overdid it, didn't you?” is the first thing he hears when he closes the door behind him, cheeks flushed from the wind.

Barry's leaning on the wall, a pair of Len's lounge clothes dangling from his figure. Len can never explain why Barry looks the best in his clothes, even better than that red leather.

Forcing himself away from the growing heat inside of him, Len snorts. “Would I do that?” It's mild annoyance that builds up at the reminder of Ramon, no longer the bubbling rage it had once been. It soothes his concerns to see Barry's lips quirk in a humorous smile.

“You forget how much of a drama queen you can be, Len,” Barry retorts, eyes sparkling with amusement as he straightens up and moves closer to his parka clad lover.

“Me?” Len pretends to be offended. “I never.” He sniffs, nose upward in the perfect image of one of those rich pricks he loves to target.

The act doesn't last long, because the two of them burst out laughing. It's infectious – this happiness. It helps them unwind and forget about the pain they'd been through. God, Barry's laughter sounds like that of an angel to Len's ears. It's one of the most beautiful sounds on Earth.

When the laughter dies down, Len admits that he might've gone overboard, but he also adds on that he doesn't regret it. Barry doesn't argue, doesn't ask or scold him. Instead, he leans forward and presses their lips together softly as their fingers thread together.

“I love you, Len,” Barry murmurs gently.

Len breathes out, heart filled with adoration for this heavenly man in front of him. “I love you too, Scarlet. I always will.” It's more of a fact than a promise. He knows it to be true.

“And I, you,” Barry replies, eyes shining with so much emotion that Len's afraid he'll cry. Barry clears his throat, stepping away from him. “Go get cleaned up,” he tells Len. “Dinner is in the oven and we need to finish the third season of _Lucifer.”_

“That sounds perfect,” Len responds, leaning forward to steal one last kiss before he goes to shower. Barry giggles and shoves him towards their room in return.

“Shower.”

Holding up his hands, Len surrenders. “I'm going. I'm going. Just remember that I'm not as fast as you, so if you miss me, you'll have to be patient.” It's perfect – the way Barry shakes his head as he laughs. It's perfect – the way Barry pecks his lips one last time before Len finds himself stripping as the mirror fogs over from the steam of the shower.

And what is even more perfect? His Scarlet – that's what.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So.. It's not the end of the series. Got the next fic planned, so we'll see how fast I can actually work on that. The job I've started is insanely busy and extremely taxing on both my body and mental health. It's quite exhausting, so I haven't done much writing lately. I miss it.
> 
> Anywhos.
> 
> Have a good one!

**Author's Note:**

> Hello all~ I'm sorry that this has taken so long to continue. Not much of an excuse, but started a full time job recently and boy is it demanding... Anyways. Forgot how much I love these two.
> 
> Hope to finish this fic soon.
> 
> Have a good one!


End file.
